The Consequences of Fracking in Texas, and Why We Don’t Know About Them
The controversial world of fracking in the U.S is controversial for a reason. It provides internal growth in the American oil industry but in order to do so, it must jump through some hurdles first. The fracking industry brings in many jobs in the U.S in addition to a huge amount of profit. There are consequences that go along with this though, which can include, temporary or sometimes permanent damage to land, the destruction of native’s land, or a poor quality of life for those near. The media covers this topic across many platforms and styles but they do not stay consistent. Being from Texas, I have seen first hand how the oil and gas industry impacts societies in America, both positively and negatively. To me, there is an issue with how the media covers the issues following fracking in Texas. We are constantly hearing a sugar coated version of the truth, and sense we are the citizens voting on these policies, we should be being fed all versions of the truth.
When voting on policy or for certain candidates, we want to know exactly what we are voting for, and unfortunately that is not the case. Many oil pipelines or fracking sites are purposely located in lower income neighborhoods or areas where there is a good chance there will not be any pushback. These areas can include minority neighborhoods outside of predominantly white and wealthy neighborhoods or directly in the middle of Native people’s land. Groups like this are time and time again discriminated against based on their race, class or income and many are not aware of the lengths that it goes to due to the media’s information gaps. News outlets tend to under-exaggerate or even leave out certain upsetting or negative connotations of the fracking world for a number of reasons. One might be because viewers/readers do not want to be seeing negative things like that, they rely on their outlet for good news. The big mainstream media companies have one goal and that is to increase their viewership so taking chances like telling the whole truth are not often made. Another reason would be that the large monopolized media companies do tend to get a lot of support from all kinds of industries including the oil industry. The environment and our society can be collateral damage when people are not aware of what fracking is doing to their very own backyard. In Texas, the main economic product is oil. Therefore, we almost never see Texas, published news sources exposing the fracking industry for its environmental negligence or its racist tendencies because we rely on it for the well being of our state. When a fracking site is planned to be put right outside a wealthy West Texas neighborhood, it is quickly countered and changed locations. Lower income areas typically do not have the money or moral to pick such fights and so these areas usually bear the grunt of the economic and social consequences, without anyone knowing.
Fracking is an incredible disturbance to the landmarks and people around the sights. It is loud and produces a lot of debris which is not an ideal environment for any living thing. According to the Texas Observer, there are plans in the near future to ban all fracking on public land. The ban of fracking in Texas has been a long time debate between the environmentalists and the Texas oil industry. President Biden made this one of his promises and there has been a lot of media attention on whether or not he is going to follow through. The ban on fracking, while ancient, has up until recently has not been portrayed in a positive light. On the way to soccer games growing up, I would drive an hour or two outside of my town that was predominantly made up of wealthy, white families. The towns on the outskirts of mine and my neighboring counties would have these fracking sites present, sometimes right next to low income apartment complexes. Not only is this destructive to the empty land being used, but it creates a bad quality of life for the residents nearby. The media portrays this as a good thing however and twists the story to their advantage. Often this controversial topic is presented in a way that focuses on the jobs it will bring into the area, and the lower prices on oil and gas due to proximity. Thes completely avoid the negative effects it has on the environment and the people nearby.
There are many downsides to the fracking industry that are hidden behind the good aspects by the industrie’s powerful marketing and the media’s racist and classist tendencies. Fracking can be detrimental in many ways so it is important to stay informed on the topic so when it comes time to vote, we do so with a head full of truth and knowledge. This can be achieved by taking everything we hear from the major news outlets with a grain of salt. In addition to this, branching out and getting different perspectives from different or even smaller news platforms can help us get a broader opinion on it. These are important civil duties because our lives and the lives of generations after us are at stake.
